Smoke Waterfall Experiment

Take your sticky note and roll it up with the sticky part facing up. Start rolling opposite side of the sticky part. You want to be able to make it small enough to fit into your L bracket. Then place paper in L bracket at a 45-degree angle.

You need a room with still air as possible. I use the inside of a glass or a fish tank. This will allow so moving air in the room will not touch the waterfall. Now light the sticky note.

Now the waterfall should do its thing.

You are probably wondering why doesn’t the smoke rise?

When paper burns it breaks down to millions of gases and water vapors. Normally these molecules are heavier than air. The flame excites these molecules making them lighter then air. Which makes the rising smoke you see from a normal fire.

IN this experiment all the hot smoke molecules are being trapped into the paper tube and which prevents them from rising.

The trapped smoke molecules are given time to cool off and which releases the energy that allowed them to be lighter then air.

The cooler smoke molecules fall instead of rise and escape out the paper tube and creates the smoke waterfall affect.